With 2025 giving us a daily dose of attacks on Black people, Black history, and Black life in general, Kwanzaa 2025 cannot come quickly enough.
If you don’t know, the seven-night celebration of Kwanzaa begins on December 26 and runs through January 1. However, the goal of Kwanzaa participants, including Kwanzaa’s founder, Maulana Karenga, Ph.D., is for members of the Black community to live the seven Kwanzaa principles daily, all year long.
This African American and Pan-African holiday is celebrated by millions worldwide to strengthen the values of African heritage and reinforce community among African Americans.
History
Established by Karenga in 1966, Kwanzaa is a holiday that honors African heritage and celebrates family, community, and culture. It takes its name from the phrase “matunda ya kwanza,” which in Swahili means “first fruits.”
“First fruits” celebrations can be found in the Bible and date back even further, to ancient Egypt, Nubia, and numerous other African nations, commemorating the community’s gratitude for its harvest.
Kwanzaa’s origin lies in the 1960s civil rights and Black Freedom movements. It is a way of commemorating the African heritage of Black people in America, whose ethnic history was stripped away by the slave trade.
“Kwanzaa was created to reaffirm and restore our rootedness in African culture,” said Karenga, who believes a reconnection with traditional African cultural values can serve as a gateway toward better outcomes for Black people in the present.
It is a cultural rather than religious holiday, and can be celebrated regardless of a person’s faith tradition.
Seven principles (Nguzo Saba)
There are seven principles (African values) of Kwanzaa, one for each day of Kwanzaa. Collectively, they are known as the Nguzo Saba.
- Umoja: Unity
- Kujichagulia: Self-determination
- Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility
- Ujamaa: Cooperative Economics
- Nia: Purpose
- Kuumba: Creativity
- Imani: Faith
Lifechanging
Donna Kadirifu moved to Houston from Arkansas in 1989 to start anew. She says her “eyes were opened to so much Black culture” as a member of the Shrine of the Black Madonna, one of the organizations that make up the Greater Houston Area Kwanzaa Planning Committee (GHAKPC).
For over 40 years, thanks to GHAKPC, community organizations across the Bayou City have united to keep Kwanzaa alive, accessible, and rooted in the people who celebrate it.
Kadirifu jumped at the opportunity to serve on that committee as the Shrine’s representative and has done so for over two decades.
“I am a proud member of GHAKPC for the Shrine, and I have had the pleasure of meeting other Black organization leaders,” said Kadirifu, who also mentioned experiencing a Kwanzaa-related revelation.
“In hindsight, as I think about my upbringing, family, community, and faith, we thought we were just being good neighbors, but we were actually participating in the seven principles of the Nguzo Saba,” she said.
Not surprisingly, Kadirifu’s most memorable Kwanzaa experience centered around her roots.
“When I went home for the holidays last year, my family and I celebrated the first day of Kwanzaa together in Little Rock for the first time,” she stated. “Each day, some of us would go to another celebration that was being held around the city, just like we do here in Houston.”
Kadirifu believes Kwanzaa carries added importance this year.
“I read a quote from Frank Dobson, and he said for the African-American community, Kwanzaa is not just any ‘Black holiday,’ it is a recognition that knowledge of Black History is worthwhile,” shared Kadirifu. “This statement is so true because at this time in our history, we are being erased.”
Family friendly
Earnest Babalola Goodrich, a Houston transplant originally from Chicago, has been a Kwanzaa participant, along with his wife and children, for decades.
He, too, was first introduced to Kwanzaa in Houston. And he’s been a vocal advocate of the celebration ever since.
“I want to invite everyone, friends, family, to Kwanzaa 2025,” said Goodrich, a member of the National Black United Front (NBUF), another member organization of the Greater Houston Kwanzaa Committee. “It’s open to all generations and all people.
It is an African American celebration of culture. It’s not a religious holiday. It’s open and welcoming to any and everyone.”
And Kwanzaa is easy on the finances.
“The events, seven nights-plus, are free. We even have our outreach in Galveston. So, if you’re in that area, please look up Nia Cultural Center,” added Goodrich.
Though Houston’s annual Kwanzaa festivities, which take place in different venues each of the seven days, have ample child-friendly activities, this year, there is a bonus.
“We’re also offering this year two Children’s Kwanzaas. There will be arts and crafts,” said Goodrich. “The kids will make little kinaras (the seven-branched candle holder used in Kwanzaa) and other things that they can take home to enjoy their own self-made Kwanzaa presents.”
Goodrich added that vendors of all kinds will be on hand each night.
“Kwanzaa is just a friendly, family, funky good time,” shared Goodrich.
For more information about this year’s Kwanzaa activities, visit www.shape.org or www.nbuf.net. Check out this link for more on “What you need to know about Kwanzaa.”
2025–26 Greater Houston Area Kwanzaa Week Schedule
✦ Dec. 26 — Umoja / Unity
First Night Kwanzaa Celebration
Third Ward Multi-Service Center
3611 Ennis St., Houston, TX 77004
Vendor Market: 5 PM | Ceremony: 7–10 PM
Free Event • Family Friendly • Live Drumming, Food & Vendors
Vending Info: 713.521.0629
✦ Dec. 27 — Kujichagulia / Self-Determination
NBUF Family Celebration (Houston)
Shrine Bookstore
5309 MLK Blvd., Houston, TX 77021
Market 6 PM | Ceremony 7 PM
Vending: 832.671.1830
Nia Cultural Center Family Celebration (Galveston)
Old Central Cultural Center
2627 Avenue M, Galveston, TX 77550
Market 4 PM | Ceremony 5 PM
Vending: 409.457.8955
✦ Dec. 28 — Ujima / Collective Work & Responsibility
Children’s Kwanzaa — Indigo Arts & Entertainment
Shrine Center
5309 MLK Blvd., Houston, TX 77021
Dance, Drum & Art Workshops from 12–3 PM
Family Celebration — Indigo Arts & Entertainment
Shrine Center
Market 12–10 PM
Diaspora Love Ball: 7 PM (Free Event)
Dress Code: Black Tie / Grand African
Vending: 234.564.3655
✦ Dec. 29 — Ujamaa / Cooperative Economics
Family Celebration — Mama Kwanzaa
Threads of Kwanzaa Experience: Free Workshops centered on the theme of Mending
SHAPE Community Center
3903 Almeda Rd., Houston, TX 77004
Market 5 PM | Ceremony 7 PM
Vending: 234.564.3655
✦ Dec. 30 — Nia / Purpose
Family Celebration — Muhammad Mosque 45
4443 Old Spanish Trail, Houston, TX 77021
Market 5 PM | Ceremony 6 PM
Vending: 713.398.2681
✦ Dec. 31 — Kuumba / Creativity
Family Celebration — SHAPE
3903 Almeda Rd., Houston, TX 77004
Market 5 PM | Ceremony 7 PM
Vending: 713.521.0641
✦ Jan. 1 — Imani / Faith
Family Celebration — Shrine of the Black Madonna5309 MLK Blvd., Houston, TX 77021
Market 2 PM | Ceremony 4 PM
Vending: 832.408.1071
